Hello @Roentgen - It’s great to hear that you are thriving with marriage/kids 
Please note-
Boston University bsmd program was cancelled for 2023 along with Rice/Baylor.
Unlike UMKC, Howard U bamd students are required to take MCAT and have a score of 504 or greater. This is on top of having a strong interview, AMCAS application, recommendation letters, volunteer/community services and other ECs to graduate to MD.
Good to see you here @Roentgen!
How many students does UMKC take each year just for MD?
The student has already made up their mind about RPI/Albany and responses seem to say you are implicitly saying you like Albany more which means you should go there. I have seen lot better threads for X vs Y than this where people actually advocate for each school and so other perceptions come out.
I dont like their analysis because they want to be psychiatrist but they are concerned about the type of patient population they will get in DC. I think it is a perfect place to train!
With recent changes in landscape with the current US med school trends with having student with one or more gap years , the 6 year programs may be giving more pressure to the students competing for key residency slots. Are these students taking more gap years after med school ?
People have no gap years after finishing medicine unless they don’t match. They can only have additional years during medicine doing things like research or getting another masters while doing research to polish their resume for competitive fields.
Most of the residents I have come across who have gone to UMKC have not taken any gap years which infact is surprising to me since some of them have gone onto competitive fields like interventional radiology. Many of them have finished six years of residency or residency+fellowship by 30.
Here’s the list so far:
RPI/AMC
Pros:
-More rural area and less crowded (personal preference)
-Closer to nature and hiking trails (I’m more of an outdoor person)
-No MCAT to take
-Smaller class sizes (more access to personalized teaching)
-Apartment costs are less expensive and more spacious. Tuition is cheaper too.
-For med school years, higher chance of being closer to the hospital (more convenient for med school…?)
-Albany Med is the only Level 1 trauma center = better training experience
Cons:
-Classes seem harder than GW (based on previous student’s experiences)
-Less flexibility with classes and very limited AP credit transferring
-Weather is worse with all the snow. Previous student mentioned “seasonal depression” can affect studies during cold months (Jan-Feb)
-Traveling to visit family (back in Arizona) is less convenient because multiple flights are required (usually Albany → Michigan or TX → AZ)
GW/GW
Pros:
-Curriculum seems easier and more flexibility with class selection
-Unlimited AP credit transferring
-More things to do in the city (museums, restaurants etc.)
-Free museum passes / NYT subscription for all GWU students
-Unlimited attempts for 510 on practice MCAT
-Transportation seems more convenient
-Much more diverse networking opportunities and proximity to NIH/other agencies for research
-Weather seems nicer
Cons:
-Higher cost of attendance in general
-I don’t exactly consider myself a city person. Not sure if I would fare well in the environment. Not as much places for hiking and exploring nature
-Still have to prepare for the practice MCAT
-During med school years, I might have to live farther away from the hospital for lower living costs and take the subway. Having lived in suburban areas for most of life, I’m not sure if I’d enjoy taking the subway all the time
-Dorms aren’t as big as RPI’s, and city is louder. Not sure if this will affect study environment.
What State are you from?
He mentioned Arizona!
Arizona
It will be very cold in NY and reasonably cold in DC compared to Arizona.
Thanks for putting together pros vs. cons. After looking at it, it’s not clear to me which of these you would prefer. I would suggest adding weight to each point. So, at the end you could compare the total. Finally, you need to pick one over the other. I feel the choice should be yours.
Summarizing your pros/cons -
It seems GW will make your studies and graduation to MD easier and you can visit with family more frequently. Since you are from Arizona, you would adjust better to the DC weather. Overall cost in RPI/AMC will be 100K less. You will also have better living for the money you spend. A small-town experience would also be a plus here. So, which of these is more important to you?
IMO, the below is not so important-
Taking MCAT: In order to be successful in MD, you need to have a good STEM foundation. I feel that this doesn’t change whether you need to take MCAT or not.
For outdoor experience, you could easily find things to do in both areas, equally. (from personal experience)
Other points to think about-
RPI/AMC BS/MD will be more stem focused with lot of mandatory research built in to the program. Is this something you like?
You will eat, study, live with other students in your cohort and also go for outdoor experiences with your cohort members. So, ultimately how much you enjoy depends on your social circle. You could ask current students from GW/GW BA-MD and RPI/AMC BS/MD to find out their perspective.
I totally agree. I talked to a student from RPI/AMC program and from this conversation, I could get only two negative points - “It was too far from his home state of california and the weather was horrible”. All other points regarding education, research, college experience was under the positive bucket.
A long time ago one of my nephews picked USC over some place on east coast. His dad said the reasoning was that he wanted to be able to wear shorts all year long going from Texas. Back then he was admitted to USC’s combined although he came back to Texas for medicine since he was going to save 160k. He chose USC over Penn.
I only heard about UCSD BS MD which was discontinued. When was USC discontinued and was it a accelerated program ? Must have been a long time.
Interestingly now this is history that Michigan Medicine also had a combined BS MD program long back, which was also discontinued. Famous CNN Medical anchor was student of this Interflex BS MD program at university of Michigan.
USC was a large program with 30+ seats if I remember correctly. The last batch to be admitted was 2011 and my D1 couldn’t apply in 2012. Caltech and UCSD was also discontinued after 2012 to which D1 was admitted and they had 8 seats or so. It was also discontinued within a year or two. Not sure when UCSD/UCSD was discontinued.
I know a Prof in Stanford who was a BS/MD from UofMich.
I know a student from CA who did RPI/AMC though liked all except the weather being from CA.
My own child doesn’t like cold and refused even to apply to any schools in NE and East for UG/MD/Residencies. Isn’t most of the Ivies in NE & East !!!
At the end whatever student prefers. Now it may seem daunting, after few decades these 7 or 8 years is small % in life. Glass is half full and half empty and it depends on what you look. Student and Vicky have summarized well and it is students call. Enjoy whatever the final decision. GL
So besides these there are a few other cons of GW/GW:
Have to take courses in one or both summers to finish the 120 credits… There are substantial credits to take even though all the APs are transferred.
Also if you do a BA then you have to take more classes to fulfil premed requirements and if you do a BS you still have to do a minor in a liberal arts or humanities. Pls check if this requirement is still there.
To elaborate on what @vicky2019 said… previois students have mentioned that there is no support from cohort in GW/GW … Dont know if this has changed or not. Most of them had friends outside of the program
USC was 8 program and was discontinued 10 years back. UCSD also had 8 program and discontinued in 2017, just before my DS applied.
Thank you @cy2019bsmd for sharing your friend’s child.
Wishing them the best at GW.
You have 2 good options - both will help you become the doctor you want to be.
Re: GW:
I would like you to consider how much importance you would give to “networking” and being in proximity to 2 other medical schools in DC and another 2 in MD within an hour’s drive away.
Also, GW has a global outlook, and immense opportunities if you want to get into the policy side of things.
Also, generally in private undergrads, transferring AP credits does not result in faster graduation. They just make you take different courses.
All the very best.